6 minute read
PATRICIA FIELD IN PROFILE
PATRICIA
FIELDIN PROFILE
Lynn Carratt
Awarding Costume Designer and Fashion Designer Patricia Field is often referred to as one of the industry’s greatest visionaries, with an illustrations career that has spanned more than five decades
Patricia, who turns 80 next month, is credited with inventing the modern-day leggings in the 1970s, but it was her stint as the Costume Designer on celebrated romantic-comedy-drama Sex and the City that brought her to public prominence in the late 1990s. As the tale goes, Sarah Jessica Parker first met New York native Patricia on the set of box office flop Miami Rhapsody in 1995. The actress was so enamoured with Patricia’s designs that they became firm friends and when Sarah, 56, won the lead role as fashionista Carrie Bradshaw in SATC, rock chick Patricia became her first port of call to create Carrie’s iconic wardrobe.
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
During her tenure on Sex and the City, the popular HBO show arguably became the most fashionable show in television history, and Patricia managed to single handedly change the way women dressed on both sides of the Atlantic. Reminiscing about her time on the show, Patricia admitted: “Sex and the City put me out there worldwide, that was a great thing. I can walk anywhere in the world and people tell me they love what I did.”
For her work on the much-loved series, the legendary designer also won a Primetime Emmy Award and four Costume Designers Guild awards, sending her career into the stratosphere. Patricia went on to gain Oscar and BAFTA nominations for her work on the 2006 cult film The Devil Wears Prada, starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt.
She was also responsible for Betty Suarez’s (America Ferrera) colourful wardrobe in the hit TV show Ugly Betty from 2006 to 2010. Furthermore, she styled and dressed the entire cast for four whole seasons. Patricia also admitted that Betty’s infamous glasses, which went on to become a bona fide fashion trend, belonged to her.
She said: “Betty’s glasses - those were actually mine. I was wearing them that day and took them off and told America to put them on. She loved them, and the glasses actually set the tone for the whole series: colourful, vibrant.”
During her time on Ugly Betty Patricia also returned to the big screen as Costume Designer for the two Sex and the City film spin-offs and when Ugly Betty ended in 2010 Patricia confessed. “I enjoyed it; it was great. I was satisfied with it, it’s over.” “Actually, I’m trying to ease up a little on that every day go-to-work thing with movies and TV shows. So, I’m happy it’s created a little time for me to not be crazy. Because I was pretty crazy; I was doing Sex and the City, Ugly Betty, and every other thing.”
Credit Patricia Field Instagram
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty Credit ABC
Sex and the City Credit HBO
Anne Hathaway, The Devil Wears Prada
Images: Emily in Paris, Lily Collins, Credit Netflix
In 2015, Patricia teamed up with her old friend and Sex and the City creator Darren Star to become the Costume Consultant on his latest TV hit Younger starring Sutton Foster and Hilary Duff. In it, 40-year-old divorcée Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) pretends to be 26, so she can work as an assistant in publishing and chaos ensues. In 2020 Patricia again teamed up with Darren [Star] on his new Netflix comedy-drama Emily in Paris starring actress Lily Collins as an ambitious twenty-something marketing executive from Chicago who unexpectedly landed her dream job in Paris. The show became one of the mostwatched shows of 2020 - with an impressive 58 million people tuning in and was quickly commissioned for a second season with Patricia’s fashion styles becoming a major focal point of the show.
The second series aired in December 2021 and Patricia described the style she had created for Emily as “optimism and individuality”. She said, “Emily doesn’t follow trends. If I could ascribe a trend to Emily, it would be the above, plus colourful and accessorised.”
Unfortunately, though for Patricia because of her commitment to her role as Costume Consultant on Emily in Paris she had to turn down the new Sex and the City reboot And, Just Like That, because of a scheduling conflict. In turn, she recommended her former SATC costume assistant and close friend Molly Rogers. Patricia said: Molly had her ‘hands full’ working on the new series. “It was a new concept that the cast were older, which I would’ve never gone for. Why they want to look old, I have no idea, but I would’ve never allowed it.”
Images: Patricia Field, Credit Shutterstock
Away from dressing some of the most famous names in the world of TV and Film, Patricia was a legendary retailer in New York. She ran her eponymous (originally called Pants Pub) boutique in the Big Apple for 50 years. It began life in 1966 in its famed location on E 8th Street in Greenwich Village and ended life on the famous Bowery. It was a downtown institution frequented by celebrities, stylists, emerging designers, artists, and performers alike. Patricia closed the eclectic store in 2016 to focus on a new concept, the ARTFASHION gallery. A fashion space that comprises entirely of original madeto-order, hand-crafted pieces by a select group of artists that she personally curates. The in-demand designer is also a huge charity advocate and in 2009 she was awarded the amfAR Award of Courage (Honouring with Pride) for her dedication to DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS), an AIDS service organisation that help improve the lives of people living with HIV.
Last year Patricia, who recently designed her new must-have Seymoure glove collection donated her favourite costume - the famous tutu that Sarah Jessica Parker wore in the SATC’s opening credits and two other iconic SATC outfits to Housing Works’ annual Fashion auction, which advocates and provides services for people affected by homelessness and HIV/AIDS.
Patricia, who comes from Armenian and Greek heritage also donates to the charities COAF (Children’s of Armenia Fund) and The Lower Eastside Girls Club. Her support also extends to many LGBT+ organisations. Despite turning 80 this year, Patricia shows no signs of slowing down. She is currently finishing a book entitled “Pat in the City” which discusses her signature boutique and the quirky characters including artists like Keith Haring who hung out there. It’s being written with bestselling author Rebecca Paley and will be released later this year.
A documentary about her colourful life by filmmaker Michael Selditch is also in the works. Her goal for 2022 is to fulfil a lifelong dream of creating a musical.
And if there is one piece of advice that Patricia could give us all about fashion it is “Have a bit of a sense of humour in the way you dress, I think it’s very important.”
